Packing gland



March 7, 1933. SCHMIERER 1,900,523

PACKING GLAND Fi1ed Feb. 14, 1950 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1 I J l 'l/ IIIIIIIIII INVENTOR March 7,' 1933.

E. scHmEFiER PACKING GLAND Filed' Feb 14, 1950 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v INVENTOR Patented Maa'fv,

UNITED STATES scam I 1 OT SAGIN'LW, IIGHIGLI, LSBIGIIOB 1'0 P rm, 110., O! SAGINL'W, IIOHIGAI, L CORPORATION O! m YORK PATENT OFFICE racms emu v Application fled rem 14, 1am. Serial Io. 41am.

This invention relates to apacking gland such as is used to prevent material, such as gas, liquid etc., from leaking volvable shaft where it passes through a wall and is more-particularly adapted to be used on rubber. nnxers, washers, dispensers, and

" masticators.

Y In the treatment of rubber and rubber solutions in particular,

by the usual packing gland to overcome this leakage, but owing to. the wobbling motion of the shaft, due to deflection, the wear of 1 the packing was-greatly increased over the natural wear which is caused by the frictional contact ofthe packing against the revolving shaft. .As a great deal of pressure is exerted on the rubber by the mlxing and masticating action of the mixer blade it is necessary to exert a considerable amount of pressure on the packing to equalize .the pressure in the mixer, hence the life" of the packing is shortened by wear and small openings appear in- .to which the rubber articles are forced.

Owing to the elastlcity and toughness of the rubber it has the peculiar characteristics of working into these small clearances in the packing and as it enters under pressure it expands when the pressure is momentarily released, due to shaft wobble. As the rubber particles expand they further force the packing apart, thus thecontinued compressing and expanding of the rubber articles forces or pumps these particles urther through the packing and being followed by others soon cuts a furrow to the outside of the mixer through which the rub-' her and liquids'can then flow freely through the acking T ese resilient packings, when compressed against the revolving shaft, will last from twelve to forty eight hours in the ordinary usage of the mixer and the shredded metal along a reare a great deal of'difl0 ficulty has been experienced in the past in a will last only a short time longer, ence t e operatin costs of these machines o to t e necessity of constantly replacing Elfin and also much material is lost due to lo age- The prime object of m invention is to overcome the above diflic ties by providing aseal at the point where the material tends to follow the shaft through the'mixer wall and which seal is not affectedbythe shaft to wobble, or deflection.

A further object is to eliminate fien'ble packing from the moving parts so that the machines, to which my invention is implied, require the minimum of attention, ereby e5 effecting a saving of material and labo A further objectis to pdovide a'packing gland that ma be .qui v and easily amemlpled for rep acement of parts and which will automatically joint as wear occurs.

I accomplish these objects by securing to the shaft, at a point adjacent the mixer wall, a hardened steel seal rin having a polished face. A spring p end polished be ars against g the seal ringand forms a tight joint which excludes the material in the mixer from the shaft where it passes through the mixer. wall. The gland loosely surrounds the shaft and is loosely so received in the'bore of the mixer wall so that shaft wobble does not touch or move the sealing'end of the gland out of contact withthesealrin. The gland itse f mayvmove axially with the seal ring as it follows the wobbling movement of the shaft, but owing to the clearance between the shaft and gland and the bore, of the mixer wall any eccentric rotating movement of the shaft will not move the bearing end of the land out of contact with the sealing ringfliiewise any end play or axial drift due to loose thrustebearing will not affect the seal joint, due'to the flex- 1 ible contact between the sealing member's, therefore the material cannot reach theshaft and follow it to'the outside of the mixer. Should small particles of the material being worked be forced between the sea parts the centrifugal action of the revolving take up the seal to a gland having one 15 v ing independent means adapted to compress va resilient packing againstthe seahgland and end wall' of a counter -bore:""As there is no rotary movement between the gland and bore suflicient pressure may be exerted on the packing to overcome the pressure of the material in the mixer and consequently there is no leakage of material or loss of power due to friction on the shaft or loss of time in changing packing.

With these and certain other objects in view which will appear later in .the specification, my invention comprises the devices described and claimed andthe equivalents thereof.

In the accompan ing drawings Fig.1 is a vertical section 0 part-of a rubber masticator showing my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 isa front view of one section of a mastlcator with the shaft bearing removed to more clearly show the glands.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal section of a modified form of my invention.

Fig. 4 is a portion of a detail of the seal ring and gland sleeve showing a modified form of sleeve.

4 Referring now to the drawings 1 is the end wall of a mixer or other machine having a bore 2 and counter bore 3 through which a shaft 4 passes. The shaft 4 is generally sup ported at a distance from the mixer wall by a bearing 5.

Secured to the shaft 4 on the inside of the wall 1 is a seal ring 6 preferably made of hardened steel with a polished face. The

polished face of the seal ring 6 is generally I located in line with the' inner face of the mixer wall; this being the point at which the material tends to enter the clearance around the shaft '4.

The seal ring 6 may be secured in a recess in the hub of the mixer blades as shown in Fig. 1 or it may be shrunk on the shaft or made in sections and secured thereto as shown in Fig.- 3 or it may be formed as an integral part of the shaft without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Loosely surrounding the shaft 4 and loosely received in the bore 2 of the end wall is a gland composed of a sleeve portion 7 generally made of high grade cast iron having a polished end which bears against theseal ring 6 and seals the space between the shaft'and sleeveportion 7 so. that no material can be admitted to the shaft where it passes through the wall. The sleeve portion 7 terminates at its outer end in a flange This resilient packing The gland plate is preferably made of steel to provide strength. and prevent breakage due to uneven stresses on the tightening bolts 10. This construction also permits economical replacement in case of wear or breakage of the sleeve portion as that part only need be replaced instead of the-entire gland.

Theglaiid plate-9' with its sleeve portion I 7 is held against the seal ring 6 by resilient springs 11 which surround the tightening bolts 10 and are interposed between the gland plate 9 and retainer 12. The tension necessary to hold the sleeve portion 7 in tight contact with the seal ring 6 is regu lated by the tightening nuts 13, which compress the springs between the plate 9 and retainer 12.

By this construction any eccentric movement, that is, a movement at right angles to theaxis of the. shaft, will permit the seal ring 6 to slide across the face of the gland sleeve 7 without transmitting any lateral movement thereto. Shaft deflection or axial drift which causes the seal ring to move in a direction parallel to the axis of the shaft, doesnot afiect the seal because the seal rin 6 presses the glandagainst the tension of t e springs 11 when moving in that, direction and the spring tension causes the gland to follow the ring when it moves in the opposite direction. .The bore of the gland sleeve is sufficiently larger than the shaft diameter to permit the latter to wobble without touching the gland,

therefore the gland cannot be moved out of contact with the seal ring by the eccentric motion of the shaft.

To seal the clearance between the outer surface of the sleeve portion 7 and bore 2 I surround the sleeve portion with a resilient packing 14 and compress it between the end of counter bore 3 and the sleeve portion by a second compression gland 15. The compression gland 15 compresses the packing 14 by the usual tightening bolts 16 threaded in the mixer wall '1 which permits adjustment of the pressure on the packing inde-' pendent of the pressure against the seal ring 6 by the sleeve portion 7 or ring 19. 14 permits movement of the sleeve portion by reason ofits small bearing area and by its resilience and yet may be tightened sufiiciently to overcome the pressure against it bythe material being mixed. The only movement between the sleeve portion 7 and the resilient packing 14 is a slight rocking movement which is pivoted about the resilient packing and therefore the wear is very slight. Thus, the packing is assured a long life and operating costs are reduced to a minimum.

' Referring now to Fig. 3 which is a modified form of my invention, the sleeve portion 8 received a recess of a gland plate 9. 7aisl1e1d against the seal ring 6 by a spring 17 which surrounds the shaft 4 and is adapted to be compressed by a compression plate 18. Tightening nuts 13a on studs 10w regulate the pressure of the compression plate 18 and spring'17. Thus the sleeve portion 7a; is held against the seal ring- 6 with suflicient pressure to prevent material from leaking around the shaft. The stud 10a may also be used to regulate the pressure of compression gland 15a against the resilient packing 14a.-

In Fig. 4 I show a modified construction of the sleeve portion 7 for use where gritty or abrasivematerial is mixed with the rubber and wherein a separate ring 19 is employed to bear against the seal ring 6.

This ring 19 may also be of hardened steel to resist wear and increase the life of the machine to which it is applied. The ring 19 is secured against rotation by being pinned or keyed to the sleeve portion 76. This construction also is very economical from a maintenance viewpoint as only the ring 19 need be replaced in case of wear.

While I have shown and described the gland as being of the one piece variety yet it i" understood that split glands may also be used without departing from the spirit of my invention. By the above means I have produced a packing gland which is simple and economical of construction, which does not require attention, is not affected cby eccentric, irregular movement of the shaft, saves power, is practically frictionless and therefore does not heat up or wear.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

' 1. A packing gland for rubber and other tenacious material working machines comprising a hardened steel seal ring having a polished face secured to a shaft at the point where said shaft passes through a wall and revolvable therewith, a gland loosely surrounding said shaft and consisting of a sleeve portion having a polished end adapted to bear against said seal ring and a plate secured to the opposite end of said sleeve portion, tightening bolts passing through enlarged openings in said plate to secure the same against rotation, springs surrounding said tightening bolts whereby the sleeve portion is permitted to follow the eccentric motion of the seal ring, due to shaft deflection and irregular rotation and thereby hold the polished end of said sleeve portion in sealing contact with said seal ring, a resilient packing surrounding said sleeve portion adjacent said wall, ,a compression gland loosely surrounding said sleeve portion and aving independent means adapted to compress said resilient packing against said sleeve portion and a portion of the wall through which said sleeve and shaft pass, whereby the com prising a seal member secured to a shaft at 1 the point where said shaft passes through a wall and revolvable therewith, a gland loosely surrounding said shaft and consisting of a sleeve portion and a flange portion, said sleeve portion adapted to contact in sealing relation with said seal member, tightening bolts passing through enlarged openings in said flange portion to secure the said gland against rotation, springs surrounding said tightening bolts, whereby the sleeve portion ispermitted to follow the eccentric motion of the seal ring, due to shaft deflection and irregular rotation and thereby hold the sleeve portion and seal member in tight contact with each other, a resilient packing surrounding said sleeve portion adjacent said wall, a compression gland loosely surrounding said sleeve .por-. tion and having independent means ada ted to compress said resilient packing against saidsleeve portion and the port-ion of the wall through which said shaft passes, whereby the compression of the resilient packing may be adjusted independently of the pressure applied to the seal joint for the purposes set forth. 7

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. 

